Summer camps for young Christian Scientists are held each year at several locations in the United States. Two of these are Leelanau and Kohahna, set amid 220 acres of wooded countryside along the shores of Lake Michigan. Leelanau also offers three-day camps for Michigan schoolchildren of all faiths, which are now available in spring, fall, and winter.

The first of this year's winter camps began two weeks ago under the direction of Clark Shutt, who's been running camps at Leelanau for more than ten years. We talked with him as early snows blanketed the hiking and skiing trails that will test the mettle of several hundred preteenagers before the wildflowers again show their faces on Lake Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes.

TODAY BURNS BRIGHTLY

"As the children huddle around the fire on these bleak midwinter evenings," says Mr. Shutt, "we encourage them to think deeply about the words we have inscribed in wood above one of the fireplaces, Yesterday wood, tomorrow ashes, only today does the fire burn brightly. The spirit and meaning behind those words ring through all our activities at Leelanau—in all seasons. It's message that impels us all to live actively in the present. We want the children who come here to catch a glimpse of their real identity through the joys of selflessness, compassion, honesty, hard work, and gratitude.

"Our goal is to expand their knowledge not only of the out-of-doors and the environment," he continues, "but of themselves. The real challenge for us is to have each group leave camp with a new understanding of a particular insight or concept that has some spiritual significance, however simple it may be. In this beautiful outdoor classroom, the learning possibilities are endless. We try to teach them things they can't learn from TV, and that they will remember all their lives."

ALL THINGS NEW

Mr. Shutt smiles as he recalls the first response of most newcomers to Leelanau. "Is everything around here uphill!" they ask with some dismay as they get adjusted to the rolling terrain. "And many of the tasks are indeed uphill," he adds, "climbing hills, climbing trees, climbing artificial walls. But within a few hours most of the campers are reveling in the newness of the experience, and it's more or less downhill from then on.

"Almost everything is new to them," he says. "They are tackling assignments they didn't believe they would ever undertake. Even the way they do them is new to most of them. They learn group initiative—how to work harmoniously and creatively in teams, whether it's naming their group, devising a team cheer, or helping each other over a wall or down a sandy slope."

Late at night, after the children have gone to bed, the staff— who are all Christian Scientists—get together to share evidence of God's presence in their work with the children. They are enormously encouraged to see how easily racial, cultural, and religious barriers fall away in the environment of love the staff set out to establish for each school group.

"Labels don't exist here," says Mr. Shutt firmly. "We expect the children to leave their human baggage at the door. Our prayers are often based on a passage of Scripture that means a lot to the staff, 'Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new' [II Cor. 5:17]."

GOALS AND GRATITUDE

"During the campers' first few hours here," continues Mr. Shutt, "we encourage them to set goals for their stay. And it's wonderfully reassuring to find that those goals are almost invariably the same with every school that comes in—consideration for and cooperation with others, doing one's best, and having fun. The kids soon realize that the achievement of the first two goals inevitably leads to the third!"

"My students can attest to the fact that camp is lots of fun," wrote sixth-grade teacher Marguerite Kenney after a recent visit, "but certainly much more than just fooling around. I have seen kids achieve milestones at camp that I would never see in the regular classroom. How rewarding it is to see the rosy-cheeked faces around the campfire at the end of the day, tired but so happy and proud of their accomplishments."

After bringing her entire class to camp, another experienced teacher commented, "Thank you for reminding me what education is all about!"

"Every evening," explains Mr. Shutt, "we gather around the fire to review the day, and we ask the campers four questions:

• What was the highlight of your day?

• What did you learn?

• Whom would you like to thank for helping you during the day?

• What are you grateful for?

"Their answers are heart-warming," he adds. "After the first night they go beyond gratitude for ski lessons, and hearty meals, and friendship, and insights into why beavers build dams, to an appreciation of the virtues of hard work, persistence, unselfishness, and integrity.

"When that happens," says Mr. Shutt, "it is our turn to be grateful. We know we have lit something inside those children, and that they will take the lessons they've learned back home with them."

PROVERBS

I have taught thee in the way of
wisdom; I have led thee in right
paths. When thou goest, thy steps
shall not be straitened; and when
thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

Proverbs 4:11, 12